Mythological Bird

I saw a bird statue when I visited
the Blue House ( Presidential House ) in Korea. At first I have no idea about
this bird, I just described this bird as an icon of the country.

But after a YEAR !

I found a similar statue with it
in China. I felt so curious, whether that bird is an icon of Korea or
it's just an icon that often used by the people in Asia. So I decided to make a
research in the internet.

The bird is called Fenghuang ( 鳳凰) or in Korean called
Bonghwang (봉황) . Fenghuang / Bonghwang are
mythological birds of East Asia that
reign over all other birds. It is a
symbol of high virtue and grace. In Korea, the Chinese phoenix / fenghuang
has been used for the royal emblem (more especially for Queens) and the
presidential emblem. That's why I saw that statue at the Blue House.